Archive for the 'Teemu Selanne' Tag Under 'Ducks' Category

Teemu Selanne will play in his record-tying sixth Winter Olympics as the winger and icon of the Ducks will be part of Finland's roster for the Sochi Games next month.

Selanne will join Finnish countryman Raimo Helminen as the only players to have competed in six different Olympics. The 43-year-old Ducks star is the leading scorer in the history of the men's hockey tournament.

Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen was named to his first Olympic team but center Saku Koivu declined an invitation, according to reports out of Finland. Koivu has been effective for the Ducks with eight goals and nine assists in 29 games.

Also on Tuesday, the Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry were named to Team Canada, and Jakob Silfverberg was named to Team Sweden. The Ducks now have seven players going to the Olympics: Perry, Getzlaf, Selanne, Vatanen, Silfverberg, Jonas Hiller (Switzerland) and Cam Fowler (United States).

On the Finnish team, there are 16 current NHL players but one, Minnesota's Mikko Koivu, might not be available after suffering a broken ankle during a game against Washington last week. The younger Koivu was seen as a potential captain.

DALLAS -- Here is the expected lineup that the Ducks (17-6-3) will put on the ice against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. Jonas Hiller (9-3-2, 2.53 GAA, .908 SV%) gets another start after stopped 73 of 75 shots in wins over Tampa Bay and Phoenix on back-to-back nights. Teemu Selanne, who is pointless in his last 10 games, is back in the lineup after staying back in Anaheim for a scheduled rest day Saturday. Nolan Yonkman will make his Ducks debut as Bryan Allen (lower body) is the latest to be sidelined. Allen got hurt against the Coyotes.

PITTSBURGH -- Teemu Selanne rarely talks about his offensive struggles because there aren't many occasions to do so each season.

It is a reflection of his storied career, one in which the Ducks' icon sits high up in the NHL record books with 678 goals and 1,437 points over his 21 seasons.

But as he took sips from a postgame drink, Selanne sighed a few times while assessing a current scoring drought that has left him pointless since Oct. 27. The winger missed three games when he was hit by a wayward stick but has also played in six since.

"A little frustrating," Selanne said. "Obviously not putting up any numbres or not producing. Some nights I have great chances and just can't buy a goal. You just have to to stay positive and work hard. There's no secrets really."

Selanne had a good five-game stretch in mid-October where he scored in three straight contests and had six of his seven points on the season. But there is a dry spell in place, with no goals over the last 10 games he has played in.

ANAHEIM -- A wayward high stick and some unscheduled dental work wasn't going to keep Ducks winger Teemu Selanne out for long.

Selanne will be back in the Ducks' lineup Wednesday night against Phoenix after missing the past three games of their just-concluded road trip after taking a stick to his mouth in their win over Philadelphia last week.

Outside of a puffy upper lip, Selanne doesn't show any visual signs of the injury after being clipped inadvertently by Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn. The winger flew home from Boston the next day but the work wasn't as extensive as previously feared.

The only cost was four fake teeth that were already there and have been since replaced.

"We were happy that there's no fracture," said Selanne, who has three goals and four assists in 11 games this season. "It just knocked the whole bridge out. Lost four fake teeth so that's not a big deal. I got those back with new ones in.

PHILADELPHIA -- Teemu Selanne was hit in the mouth by a stick early in the third period against Philadelphia and did not return in the Ducks' 3-2 win over the Flyers on Tuesday night.

Selanne was struck by the stick of the Flyers' Luke Schenn as the defenseman was going into the corner with Ducks winger Emerson Etem. Selanne remained on the ice for some time and then was assisted to the dressing room.

A Ducks spokesman said that Selanne lost an undetermined amount of teeth and had a bloody and swollen mouth afterward as the Flyers' medical staff was attending to him. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau had no further report on the winger.

"They said it’s not pretty," Boudreau said. "I’m sort of squeamish on these things. I’ll wait until I see him later. I just hope he’s OK."

Teemu Selanne rarely passes up an opportunity to meet with his legion of fans, even if time sometimes doesn't permit the winger to do so.

But there are those who particularly touch Selanne's heart. And this one young lady was certainly worth sharing some time with before Sunday's game in Winnipeg against the Jets.

Alex Blake got to share 20 minutes with the people-pleasing winger and left an open invitation for the golf-loving Selanne to play a round with her any time he is in Winnipeg. In turn, Selanne autographed one of his game-used sticks and gave it to her.

Recent years haven't been kind to Blake. Two years ago, she was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a malignant form of bone cancer that required parts of her hip and pelvis to be removed in order to take out all of the tumor.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The plan all along was to rest Teemu Selanne on occasion in his final NHL season and the Ducks are sticking to it before the first weekend is played.

Selanne will sit out Saturday night's game against Minnesota as the plan is for the winger to rest in one of the 12 sets on contests on consecutive nights.

It will be Selanne's choice as to which game he wants to play on those back-to-back sets and there is plenty of motivation for him to sit and play on Sunday night. The Ducks will play at Winnipeg, which will mark the final time he plays in the city he started his legendary career.

"The way I how look back at last year, I was a little bit stubborn about taking days off and nights off. I try to be smarter this season. I know it's a long season again. Even last year was so tough but it was hard to take days off.

Teemu Selanne will get together with the Ducks on Tuesday afternoon in a meeting that could determine whether the winger will return to the club and play a 21st NHL season.

Selanne said on multiple occasions last week that he wanted to meet with Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau and General Manager Bob Murray before making a final decision on his playing future.

Selanne, 43, confirmed to the Register on Tuesday morning that an afternoon meeting will take place. It is believed to be with Boudreau as the two will hammer out how the winger will be handled in terms of where he fits with the Ducks to begin the upcoming season.

A one-year contract for the free agent is expected to be worked out in short order if all the parties can agree on how Selanne will be used and the ways in which he can be rested in order to keep him fresh over an 82-game NHL schedule.

Selanne is meeting with Boudreau for the first time since the spring shortly after the Ducks were the eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by Detroit. He talked with Murray often during the summer and the two appear to be on the same page.

Teemu Selanne is moving closer to a decision on his playing future and has discussed a return to the Ducks next season after meeting with the club on Tuesday.

Selanne met with Ducks GM Bob Murray to further discuss the winger's role for the upcoming 2013-14 season. The Ducks confirmed on Wednesday that the two got together for an hour in person at Honda Center.

Murray, through a team spokesman, characterized the meeting as "positive" and that he and Selanne agreed to talk again soon. He said Selanne did not give him a decision on whether he intends to continue playing or retire.

Selanne is back in Southern California and was skating at Anaheim Ice on Tuesday. The winger and his family returned to their south Orange County home over the weekend as their older children started school this week.

The Register learned that Selanne is training with former Ducks and Kings forward Craig Johnson, who often directed workouts many locally based NHL players during the lockout last winter.

Teemu Selanne to the Kings? Not according to General Manager Dean Lombardi.

In an e-mail to the Register on Thursday, Lombardi said the Kings have not talked to the free-agent winger and added that "we are filled now anyway" with regard to their roster.

The Kings' salary cap situation also supports Lombardi's assertion as it relates to adding a player, particularly one of Selanne's stature. His club is about $87,000 over the cap according to CapGeek.com but it has until 48 hours before their season opener to get back under.

The news of Selanne reportedly opening up the possibility of playing this season with another NHL team sent a long-distance tremor from Finland that rattled throughout Duckland.

To date, Selanne has made no decision on his playing future and there's no sense that he has closed his door on coming back for one more run with the Ducks. Nor have the Ducks shut the door on the winger returning.